There should be some excitement after the recent New Year’s Day announcement that TheZone, a long-awaited and discussed addition to the Northwest Arena, will open later this year.

Arena officials kicked off the $4 million fundraising campaign in August 2021 for an interactive indoor sports and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) children’s play experience that will provide children hands-on exhibits that blend sports with STEAM learning. It is expected to include interactive physics-based sports challenges and high-tech engineering stations and artistic explorations. TheZone will be housed in the second floor of the arena’s expansion project near Second Street that was finished in 2021.

It’s a project that we’re sure many Jamestown parents are glad to see come to fruition, particularly in the midst of cold winter months where there are limited options for physical activities for children. It’s also another way to get people who aren’t hockey players or figure skaters into the Northwest Arena, which helps to create the type of community hub that was promised two decades ago when the arena was built.

TheZone, we hope, also provides another addition to the offerings available downtown to lengthen visitors’ stay in Jamestown rather than sending parents outside the area to find things to do with their kids when they’re here to visit the National Comedy Center or here for a tournament. The more there is to do here the more our investments in places like the Comedy Center, the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts, the Lucy-Desi Museum and the Chadakoin Riverwalk will pay off for surrounding businesses and attractors.

TheZone, like many of our additions, has been led by the city’s nonprofits. It’s a sign of the difficulty we still have attracting private investment to Jamestown. Those who need proof need look no further than big buildings still waiting for a benefactor to take on the expensive proposition of giving them new life. TheZone is a great idea. We’re glad someone – either non-profit or for-profit – picked that ball up and ran with it. But at some point we need private investment in the continued remaking of Jamestown. The difficulty attracting private investment downtown is a sign there is still pessimism in our ability to support big, shiny toys like TheZone.

We should be grateful that we have a non-profit base that works to continue adding new things to downtown Jamestown while, at the same time, looking ahead to the day when Jamestown is a better investment for the private sector.